William Jackson Harper

William Jackson Harper was born on February 8, 1980, in Dallas, Texas. He grew up in Garland, Texas, and attended Lakeview Centennial High School, later graduating from the College of Santa Fe in 2003. Harper began his career in theater, making his New York theater debut in 2006. His early notable stage roles included performances in Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Ruined” (2008), and appearing in Shakespearean productions like “Measure for Measure” (2010) and “Titus Andronicus” (2011) with The Public Theater. His Broadway debut came in 2014, portraying civil rights activist Stokely Carmichael in Robert Schenkkan’s “All the Way,” starring Bryan Cranston, which won the Tony Award for Best Play. He also starred opposite Carrie Coon in Melissa James Gibson’s “Placebo” (2015) at Playwrights Horizons Theater, receiving praise for his natural portrayal.

Harper gained widespread recognition for his role as Chidi Anagonye in the NBC comedy series “The Good Place” (2016–2020), for which he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. Before this pivotal role, he had considered leaving acting. In addition to his television work, Harper has appeared in films such as Jim Jarmusch’s “Paterson” (2016), Ari Aster’s horror film “Midsommar” (2019), and Todd Haynes’s legal thriller “Dark Waters” (2019). He further expanded his acting credits with roles in the Amazon limited series “The Underground Railroad” (2020), and the second season of the HBO Max comedy series “Love Life” (2021). His career also includes voice acting in animated series like “Dogs in Space” (2021-2022) and “Inside Job” (2021). He played Quaz in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” (2023).

His stage career continued with leading roles in plays such as Zoe Kazan’s “After the Blast” (2017) and Eboni Booth’s “Primary Trust” (2023), earning an Obie Award for Outstanding Performance for the latter. In 2024, he returned to Broadway as Astrov in a revival of Anton Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya” at Lincoln Center, receiving a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Play. As a playwright, Harper has written “We Live Here” (2010) and “Travisville” (2018), with “Travisville” having its world premiere at Ensemble Studio Theatre, inspired by the displacement of a Black community in Dallas near the Texas State Fairgrounds. Harper currently has several projects in development, showcasing his continued versatility.